Strange hr spikes during sleeping on my watch

[NewOne2023]

Hi guys.

I see on my Amazfit GTS3 smart watch that every night I have a couple of short heart rate spikes as you can see on the picture.

I have PAF but didn't have an episode for almost a month (as far as I know) and it would be extremely unlikely that my afib episodes occur only during sleeping and in such short periods, further more without me feeling it.

Another thing is, I'm suspecting that I have some form of sleep apnea but I still didn't do a test in the clinic. I do snore but my girlfriend never noticed that I'm choking or gasping for air. So I'm not sure about apnea or even if it could produce those spikes.

Could it be just me moving about during sleep and sensor having few glitches? It's not the most expensive one but it has fairly good reviews about the accuracy.

The spikes you can see till 6am are basically all around 80-90bpms. otherwise my resting rate is around 45-50. The big spike at the end is when I was already awake so don't mind that.

I'm still confused about all the other types of disorders like VES, SVES, PACs, Ectopics and frankly wouldn't know the difference if one of them hit me. I know how afib episode feels and mine is just irregular beat mainly below 130 bpms and no other symptoms but with a large anxiety toll afterwards.

Am I looking too much into it with the watch readings? Does anybody have experience with this? Sometime I think I shouldn't even bought the damn thing with my overthinking modus.

[BobD Volunteer]

I always tell people how I only ever started to feel normal when the batteries had gone flat. The big question is how do you actually feel?

[Threecats in reply to BobD]

It’s true Bob, it’s easy to get carried away on the gadget front with this AF lark. The trouble is, with sleep apnoea, I personally found the effects were quite subtle and cumulative, so I’m not sure that just going by how he feels would be sufficient for the poster to decide whether sleep apnoea is at the root of his heart rate spikes or not. Given that there is such a strong association between AF and sleep apnoea, as you know, I personally think everyone newly diagnosed with AF should have a simple home sleep study carried out as a matter of course.

[Seasid in reply to Threecats]

Even better if you do a sleep study in a hospital so you can get breakfast for free like myself.

[Iamfuzzyduck in reply to BobD]

That’s funny-my apple watch died on Christmas day-disastrous! But today is the best I have felt for three weeks !

[Seasid]

Just do the overnight sleep study in the hospital as soon as possible.

[Threecats]

Hi NewOne2023

I have mild sleep apnoea and can say that it is quite possible to have it even though you don’t wake up choking or gasping for air, I didn’t . To be honest, unless you’re able to obtain data showing your oxygen saturation at night, to accompany the heart rate data you have, it’s impossible to say whether sleep apnoea is causing your heart rate spikes or not.

In my case, in the early days of my AF journey, I only used to get episodes at night and wanted to find out why, so purchased an O2 ring that measures nightly heart rate and O2 levels. That showed regular O2 drops into the 80% range and accompanying heart rate spikes. On one occasion I even captured an AF event that was triggered as a result. Once I had that data. I asked for a referral to a sleep clinic to confirm it and started treatment.

Given that there is a strong association between sleep apnoea and AF and the fact that you snore, which suggests a certain degree of airway obstruction, I would ask your GP to refer you for a sleep clinic for a home study . At least that way you’ll know for certain .

All the best, TC

[NewOne2023 in reply to Threecats]

So my watch does have oxygen in blood parameter and it says that my level was 93-97% last night beetween 2am and 3am but otherwise it was above 97% all the time. But I'm not sure the accuracy of this measurement.

I have booked polysomnography for apnea but it will be in 2 months (27.02).

[Threecats in reply to NewOne2023]

Good luck with it, at least you’ll know for certain either way after that.

[fibnum]

I am not a doctor, but I think it is possible that some interruption in your breathing (mild sleep apnea) is causing your heart to receive, and react to, erratic signals from the vagus nervous system.

It happens to me and on a few occasions has led to a long-lasting Afib event because I woke up too late to calm my panicking heart with deep nose breaths.

I use a special sleeping position to avoid sleep apnea. I lie halfway on my right side with my right cheek on the pillow and chin slightly elevated. I tuck a corner of the pillow under my chin. The point is to not let your chin come down close to your chest and close off the airway.

Fibnum

[lawspear]

I had the same problem and discussed it with my cardiologist, Dr Guy Haywood. He was not concerned and said it was probably a recording anomaly. He said he has just written the paper on these devices and this is the link. I hope this helps. bjcardio.co.uk/2023/11/pers...

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to lawspear]

That was interesting to read and gives a good overview of the different types of devices for measuring heart rate anomalies at home.

Guy Haywood was my EP and performed 3 ablations on me. I still have AF but at a low rate between 60-90 and live a normal life. I rarely check what my heart is doing these days.

Jean

[lawspear in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Glad to hear all is okay for you now.

[NewOne2023]

So I have an interesting update. Last night I recorded my sleeping sounds with SnoreLab app. Also, I've been using a mouthpiece from Zquiet for the last couple of days to see if it prevents me from snoring.

I went to sleep just before midnight and had the mouthpiece up untill 3am or so. And then I took it out and went back to sleep.

As you can see on the picture (yellow spikes are sound from my snoring) I started to snore loudly just before 4am and I can see on my watch that around that time I started to have much more spikes in my heart rate.

The sounds from the midnight untill 1am is my tv in the background so ignore those spikes.

So it seems that my mouthpiece is stopping my snoring but I have a problem with the comfort since it puts my jaw quite forward and it starts to hurt my jaw muscles and teeth.

I have booked polysomnography but it will happen' in 2 months. Otherwise I should pay to do it privately and thats not an option at this time.

Snorelab

[NewOne2023 in reply to NewOne2023]

Here is the heart rate (and sleep periods)

Hr

[Threecats in reply to NewOne2023]

Mandibular advancement devices can be effective for apnoea but can certainly cause jaw joint and bite problems if not fitted correctly. I can’t use one as I have arthritis in my TMJs. However, if it does transpire you have apnoea and want to use one of these devices, I think you would be best off seeing a dentist who specialises in fitting them.

[theonethatgotaway1]

There's a reason the watches say that the information is not to be relied on for medical purposes...

Also anyone with a medical heart device fitted. Beware. Smart watches can be deadly.

[Peacefulneedshelp]

I am wondering if your watch shares stages of sleep? You can compare if you were in REM which means you might have been dreaming.

[NewOne2023 in reply to Peacefulneedshelp]

Almost all spikes are during light sleep and REM. I can see only 2 in 7 days during deep sleep.

[WildIris]

It looks like you were just thrashing around while sleeping someway that made your watch give those readings. I agree with the people who said not to take Smart Watch readings too seriously, at least until they get a lot smarter.

[lawspear in reply to WildIris]

The apple watch is already very smart. See my post above with a link to a paper by Dr Guy Haywood.